


Persona: Cartoon Babylon

by Troublethecat



Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine, Persona Series
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bendy and Ink Bendy as Separate Characters, Canon-Typical Violence, Collective Unconcious, Crossover, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Gen, Henry is a Persona User, More specifically Henry is an old school P1 & 2 Persona user, There are SMT Demons, There will also be a perfect Alice, and a Boris who talks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-28
Updated: 2019-04-28
Packaged: 2020-02-08 20:45:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18630964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Troublethecat/pseuds/Troublethecat
Summary: When Henry returns to the studio after receiving Joey's letter, he didn't know what to expect, but ink monsters, living cartoon characters and actual demons were definitely not it. It's a good thing that the mysterious gentleman in a butterfly mask gave him this strange "Persona" power, because he's definitely going to need it.





	Persona: Cartoon Babylon

**Author's Note:**

> Alright. I have a little bit more confidence in the idea that I'll actually finish this one, because quite a bit of the later bits have already been written, so here we go again. I'm still feeling like I should have put more into this chapter, but I figured I didn't have to make the chapters that long. I know every BATIM AU kinda starts out like this. Please just give this a chance.

"All right Joey, I'm here. Let's see if I can find what you wanted me to see."

Henry wasn't surprised Joey Drew wasn't there to greet him when he arrived at the studio. It was a surprise the man contacted him at all. He'd stop working here 30 years ago, when his former friend and boss's demanding attitude and glory hogging became too much. Unfortunately, He hadn’t been able to take the rights to the characters he'd created; Bendy the demon, Boris the wolf and Alice Angel, with him when he left, but life went on. A fact he still regretted eve now.

When he'd received that letter from Joey out of the blue, he didn't know what to think. He'd thought Joey wanted nothing to do with him after he left. He’d wanted nothing to do with Joey either. Still, he'd come here, anyway. It hadn't been just because of nostalgia either. The thing was, it should've been impossible to receive a letter from Joey Drew. 

Joey Drew disappeared 5 years ago, in an accident that also caused the deaths of several employees and ended in the studio being closed down for good. No one seemed to know what happened that day. There were a lot of theories, but no one seemed able to agree whether it was an accident or sabotage or if Joey was alive or not. 

But someone sent him a letter supposedly from Joey. Henry shouldn't have come here. Should have ignored it. Yet here he was wandering the abandoned halls of the studio. 

He knew the moment he set foot in the studio that something was wrong, but he couldn't put his finger on what it was at first. They had renovated the place since he'd left, but that wasn't it. It took a few minutes of wandering around before it finally hit him. His surroundings had a surreal appearance to them like he'd stepped into a three dimensional cartoon. But that couldn't be right. That made no sense.

What also made little sense was when he discovered a tape recorder containing a recording of the voice of Wally Franks, talking like he were still working at the studio. That was impossible. Tape recorders and cassette tapes were a recent invention. They weren’t around when the studio was still running. Was this a prank? The tape mentioned something about a machine, and a ritual to "appease the gods," which didn't help Henry's suspicions. Joey Drew had always shown an interest in the occult. It was why he'd been willing to accept Henry's idea for a friendly demon protagonist in the first, aside from it being something none of the other studios had done, making their cartoons stand out more. Henry never thought he’d go that far. What happened since Henry left?

When he discovered the machine Wally mentioned, that was also a surprise. There was an entire room dedicated to the contraption, with a pulley system needed to raise it from a giant hole. It was impressive, but he had a feeling this wasn't what Joey wanted him to see. Maybe that was why he was willing to go through the whole strange process of turning the thing on, despite his instincts telling him it was a terrible idea.

So he collected all the objects the signs instructed him to, making another surprising discovery on the way when he found what looked like the body of Boris the wolf strapped to an operating table in one room. Once he’d collected everything, turned the pressure on and threw the switch, the only thing left to do was go back to the Ink Machine room.

When he arrived there, he discovered that the entrance was partially boarded up. Puzzled, Henry drew closer. Just as he reached the boarded up entrance, suddenly, something jumped out from behind the boards and swiped at him with a clawed hand, causing the older man to fall backward in shock. He only had time to register that the creature wore an eerily familiar grin before he realized that large quantities of ink was leaking out of the walls and ceiling around him and decided he needed to get out of there. Climbing to his feet quickly, he ran for the exit. 

As he ran, the torrents of ink flooding the studio around him progressively worsened. Parts of the ceiling caved in, pouring more ink into the halls and doors seemed to shut on their own. The exit ahead of him was ajar however, even though he was sure he'd shut the door behind him when he first entered. That didn't matter. It was a good thing he was still in such good shape from his army days. He put on an extra burst of speed as he reached for the door.

Just as he was about to reach the exit, the floor beneath him caved and he fell, and fell, for what seemed like several stories before landing in a knee deep puddle of ink with a splash. 

Slowly he got back up, groaning. How did he survived a fall like that without breaking any bones? Even if he'd been younger, a fall like that should have done more damage. He shook his head and looked around. Seeing a valve he tried turning it and the ink drained out of the room. Well, that was better. Now he needed to figure out where he was and how to get out of here.

As he looked around, his mind returned to the memory of what happened on the first floor just now. What was that creature he'd seen? It looked almost like a twisted monstrous parody of Bendy, but things happened so fast, he hadn't gotten a good look at it. Thinking about the body of Boris he'd seen before that made him frown. That couldn't have possibly been Bendy, right? No. Even with him now having to accept that the body upstairs might really be Boris, that couldn't be Bendy. Not the sweet little devil he'd come up with in his head at least. Something had to be going on here.

His thoughts were interrupted when an odd golden light caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. Was that a glowing golden butterfly fluttering down the hall ahead of him? Bewildered, the ex-animator followed it. 

The butterfly lead him to a room containing several coffins and what looked like a large magic circle in the middle of the room surrounded by candles. Staring around the room and once again what Joey had gotten involved with after he left, Henry stepped out into the room without thinking, stepping into the circle. 

The moment he did, a sudden wave of dizziness overcame him. Strange images flashing before his eyes, the room spun around him as he fell into unconsciousness.

In his dreams, he continued to follow the golden butterfly, until he found himself standing on a strange ivory and gold platform in the middle of a great expanse of nothingness. Standing in the center was a strange man in a long white coat wearing a white porcelain mask with a single butterfly wing painted over one eye. long black hair tied in a ponytail at the nape of his neck. The man bowed in greeting before addressing him. 

"Welcome. It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Philemon, a dweller between consciousness and unconsciousness." The man inclined his head towards Henry. "And now, a simple test. Can you state your name?"

Henry was very confused, but he answered all the same. "My name is Henry Stein."

The man nodded. "Splendid. There are few who can remember their identity within this domain. It seems that you have passed that test."

It was impossible to see any expression on the man's face through his mask, but he seemed to grow serious. "There are forces at work in this place far greater than you can imagine Henry Stein. The warped dreams of those who dwell here have damaged the barrier between the world of imagination and that of reality. There is no telling what you might find if you continue your journey."

He inclined his head. "I would like to offer you aid, but first I must ask. Are you aware of the many and varied selves you harbor within you?"

"What do you mean?" 

"The self effused with divine love, the self capable of demonic cruelty..." He inclined his head, "People live by wearing different masks. Your current self may be only one of those innumerable masks. You though, you seem to have a firm grip on your identity." 

The man held out a hand with a flourish, a strange, glowing humanoid figure appearing above it. "It is for that reason I feel I can grant you this power, "Persona." It is the power to summon the selves within you. The gods and the demons you harbor. If you continue your quest through these halls, you will soon find you have great need of this power."

Before Henry could ask him what that meant, the man banished the figure and folded his arms in front of him. Henry surroundings began to fade. 

"Now, you must return to your proper time and place. Someone important is waiting for you."

"Henry! Hey, wake up!"

The voice was faint and muffled, but it sounded familiar somehow. Where was he? This wasn't his room, and it definitely wasn't his bed. Was he on the floor?

"C'mon old man, up an at'em! It ain't good fer an old timer to sleep on the floor like that, ya know." 

"Ugh, Who are you calling old?" Groggily, Henry cracked his eyes open to find a pair of black cartoon pie cut eyes staring back at him. Startled, he abruptly sat up. 

"Bendy?! Is that really you?" It looked more like his favorite creation than the monster he'd run away from. The little dancing demon grinned his trademark grin at him and waved.

"Yep, it's me all right. Good ta see ya pal!"

"How did you get here?" Henry asked, still staring. He shouldn't have been that surprised. He'd already seen Boris's body upstairs after all. But after encountering that monster that looked like Bendy earlier, actually seeing his real creation alive in front of him was a shock.

"No idea. I was just mindin' my own business one minute, and the next thing I know I'm in this weird place. Where are we, anyway?" The little cartoon demon stared at their surroundings.

"We're in the studio... I think." Honestly, something was so off about this place, that Henry was beginning to feel a little unsure that this was Joey Drew Studios. Then something occurred to him. "Wait, how is it that you know my name?"

"Yer my creator. A course I know it." As he continued to look around, Bendy took in the coffins nearby, and the pentagram under their feet. "Yeesh, is this place really th' studio? Sure a lot creepier than I woulda expected."

"If you were somewhere else before coming here, where did you come from?"

"From Inkwell." The toon replied, "That's where toons like me live, after we're born from the minds a humans. 's kinda complicated. Not sure how to explain it plainer 'an that. Probably Alice can explain it better." 

At the mention of the fallen angel's name, a light bulb appeared above Bendy's head and lit up as the demon looked up at his creator. "Speakin' a that. If I'm here, do ya think Alice an' Boris are here too?"

"Ah," Henry paused, feeling uncomfortable as he wondered whether he should mention what he'd seen upstairs. Should he tell him? "Maybe..."

He didn't get a chance to make up his mind. The demon turned and ran off down the hall before he could say anything more. "All right, let's go look for 'em! They gotta be around here somewhere."

The demon stopped short, however, when he reached the door to discover it boarded shut. "What the-? Who the heck boarded this up?"

"I have no idea." Henry frowned and cast around for his ax. It had to be hear since he'd had it before he blacked out so it couldn’t have gone far. Seeing it on the floor near one of the coffins, the ex-animator retrieved it before returning to the door. 

Bendy moved out of the way, giving Henry space so he could work. It only took him a few seconds for him to clear the door. As soon as he opened it, Bendy was already slipping past him down the hallway. "Ya better keep a hold a that thing. There could be anythin' in this creepy place." The toon called back behind him.

Startled, Henry followed the little toon. "Bendy, wait!"

**Author's Note:**

> Before anyone asks, no Inkwell isn't the Inkwell Islands from Cuphead. It's a reference to the Fleischer Studios Out of The Inkwell cartoons.


End file.
